Selenski, attorney accused of sabotaging prosecution

With Luzerne County taxpayers footing the bill for Hugo Selenski's free legal defense, the accused double-murderer, his lead attorney and a private investigator conspired to intimidate prosecution witnesses and then lied to a grand jury investigating their crimes, according to charges filed Monday.

A scathing grand jury presentment against Mr. Selenski, defense attorney Shelley Centini and investigator James Sulima blasts the trio as a "cabal of criminals" who tried to sabotage the prosecution of the accused killer.

They are charged with obstruction of justice, witness intimidation, perjury, theft, conspiracy, and various other alleged crimes that prosecutors say were committed to help Mr. Selenski beat a double-murder rap and avoid the death penalty.

The presentment describes Mr. Selenski as a charismatic "serial killer" who developed "a cult-like following of supporters willing to go to great lengths on his behalf" since a dozen or so bodies were unearthed in his yard in June 2003.

Ms. Centini and Mr. Sulima are the latest to do the career criminal's bidding, spending taxpayer money to commit crimes on his behalf, the grand jury claimed.

The presentment details the grand jury appearances of the accused: When called before the grand jury, Ms. Centini dismissed the writings as "harmless" messages from Selenski, but claimed to have "lost" the letters. Prosecutors said she either withheld or destroyed them to avoid prosecution. Mr. Sulima claimed to remember little from a meeting he and Ms. Centini called with four witnesses at a corner bar in Larksville, where the witnesses read the letters, but were required to hand them back. Mr. Selenski downplayed his writings as "greetings," blamed the media for the "aura of intimidation" prosecutors assumed and then threatened a deputy attorney general questioning him.

Ms. Centini, 38, of Wilkes-Barre, Mr. Selenski's taxpayer-funded lead attorney who was appointed by the court in January 2012, appeared before Magisterial District Judge David Judy in Harrisburg on Monday afternoon to surrender for arraignment on the charges. She was released on $500,000 unsecured bail.

Mr. Sulima, 49, a private investigator for Selenski's defense team who was embroiled in a payment dispute with the Luzerne County courts, also was released on $500,000 bail following his arraignment.

Mr. Selenski, 40, who is jailed for decades in state prison on robbery charges unrelated to the homicide case, was arraigned separately on Monday morning via video conferencing. His bail was set at $1.5 million.

When reached by telephone after the arraignment, Ms. Centini's attorney Al Flora Jr. blasted the prosecution's case and said Ms. Centini will fight the charges.

"At all times, she acted as a zealous advocate on behalf of a defendant in a capital murder case. Her advocacy was consistent with her ethical and professional obligations under the law." Mr. Flora said. "This type of prosecution is going to have a chilling effect upon all defense lawyers in the performance of their duties, particularly when it comes to representing capital defendants in high profile cases."

Mr. Selenski is charged in the 2002 killings of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and Mr. Kerkowski's girlfriend, Tammy Fassett, whose bodies were found buried in the yard of Selenski's Kingston Twp. home in June 2003.

Mr. Selenski's much-anticipated trial, off-and-on for years due to various unexpected twists and turns and appeals, now appears headed for another delay as prosecutors Monday filed motions demanding Ms. Centini and Mr. Sulima be removed from Mr. Selenski's legal team. Trial was most recently slated to begin on March 3.

Efforts to reach Mr. Selenski's other attorney, Edward Rymsza, were unsuccessful. Representatives of the Luzerne County district attorney's office declined comment, citing a gag order in place.

"Centini and Sulima engaged in this criminal conduct while being paid by the citizens of the County of Luzerne to represent Selenski," the grand jury presentment says.

They deceived the public out of roughly $50,000, the grand jury said, "by creating and maintaining false impression as to the legality of their conduct."

Long before Monday's charges, Ms. Centini and Mr. Sulima have been battling Luzerne County court officials over funding. In April 2013, Ms. Centini threatened to withdraw as Mr. Selenski's attorney, saying she hadn't been paid in months, but an undisclosed resolution was reached. Earlier this month, she filed court documents on behalf of Mr. Sulima, who claimed he has not been paid more than $10,000 he is owed for work he did on Mr. Selenski's behalf and that he refuses to continue working on the case unless a judge authorizes payment.

Information about payments to Mr. Selenski's defense team has been sealed by court order to prevent revealing defense strategies, court officials have said. However, court officials noted last year that payments to Sulima were blocked as a result of the grand jury probe.

Ms. Centini was paid $90,869 in 2012 for her work and reimbursements in the Mr. Selenski case, according to records from the county controller's office. It's unclear how much she was paid in 2013 or 2014.

Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni on Monday set a hearing for Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. regarding the prosecution's motion to dismiss Ms. Centini and Mr. Sulima from Mr. Selenski's case.

Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

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